I will give the nod to a man-to-man player every time over a guy that excels in zone coverage. The skills required to be a good man-cover corner surpass that which is required to play zone....and then you add the mental composition...the competitiveness of man coverage corners. These guys are rare in the modern, overly schemed NFL.

I will give the nod to a man-to-man player every time over a guy that excels in zone coverage. The skills required to be a good man-cover corner surpass that which is required to play zone....and then you add the mental composition...the competitiveness of man coverage corners. These guys are rare in the modern, overly schemed NFL.

I know it's not all about numbers, but come on. It's hype. It's hype. It's all frickin hype.

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DeAngelo Hall is one of the top 5 corners in the league, dude. Just look at how he made T.O. his bitch.

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Wrong. This year TO was 5 for 69 and 2 TDs.
Last year he caught 7 balls for 112 yards (0 TDs).

T.O. clearly made Hall his bitch, both years. But you probably thought the opposite was true becuz of ESPN. They talked about the matchup in 05 as if it were Marino vs Elway, and just becuz TO didn't score, the media and therefore the fans started to proclaim Hall as the next Champ Bailey, forgetting that getting smoked for 7 rec and 112 yards doesn't quite make you "elite".

That being said, I like Hall and he's one, if not the, most athletic DB in the game. But he takes too many chances and he doesn't have a short memory, which can lead to big gains as the game progresses. Within a few years he can climb to the elite status, but he's not there yet.

Charles WoodsonNormally, I would not include Woodson in the underrated category because he is considered a very good cornerback. However, his 2006 metrics indicate he should have been a lock for the Pro Bowl.

Woodson had the sixth-lowest overall YPA in the league last year. He also had the second-best YPA among cornerbacks with more than 60 passes thrown their way. Only Champ Bailey beat him out in that category.

Woodson tied for the most stripped/dropped passes, and had the eighth-most forced incompletions. His eight interceptions tied for sixth in the league and his 16 combined interceptions/near interceptions were the second most in the league. That Woodson was snubbed in favor of DeAngelo Hall and Ronde Barber for the Pro Bowl is a shame.

Nathan Vasher
The Bears recently signed Vasher to a contract extension, and the metrics indicate he certainly deserved it. His 6.0 YPA last year was the 12th best in the league. Vasher had good YPA numbers across the board, but his bomb pass YPA numbers were tremendous. He allowed zero completions in six bomb attempts and was even able to draw a 10-yard offensive pass interference call on one of the plays, thus making his YPA on bomb passes a superb -1.7 yards.

The main reason Vasher wasn't seen as a Pro Bowl-level cornerback is that his interception total dropped from eight in 2005 to three in 2006. Vasher did notch seven near interceptions last year, a total that ranked him second in the league in that category. If he can catch some of those near interceptions in 2007, a trip to Hawaii should be in his future.

Honorable mention:
Johnathan Joseph: His 7.3 overall YPA was already very good, and if his poor performance against the Saints was removed, his YPA would drop to a mere 5.9 yards. He also helped the Bengals by leading the league in near interceptions (12).

Leigh Bodden: Only appeared in nine games for Cleveland last season, but had the third-best success percentage in the league, and led the NFL in forced incompletion percentage.

Al Harris: Was not quite as good as Woodson, but still ranked 18th in YPA and seventh in success percentage.

Charles Tillman: A 6.7 YPA, 52.1 success percentage and seven near interceptions indicate the Bears should do what they can to keep him around as well.

Overrated Cornerbacks

DeAngelo Hall
This is the second consecutive season Hall makes this list. He receives this honor because he once again made the Pro Bowl, despite posting simply abysmal metrics.

His 9.2 YPA ranked 76th among cornerbacks. Hall's 47.1 success percentage was solid (31st in the league), but his 17.9 missed pass percentage was one of the highest in the league. That means a large percentage of Hall's success was due to luck.

His supporters would point out that many of the big plays he allowed were due in part to not getting good help from the Falcons' safeties. That might be the case, but Hall's overall YPA was still only .8 yards better than Jason Webster's figure. Furthermore, Woodson had just as little help from the Packers' mediocre safeties and still put up great metrics.

Ronde Barber
Barber also didn't deserve a trip to the Pro Bowl. His 7.9 overall YPA was tied for 58th in the league, and his 37.6 success percentage was 76th. To put these numbers in perspective, Barber's YPA was equal to Terrence McGee's, and he ranked just below Carlos Rogers in success percentage.

Barber did have one great game last year, notching two interception returns for touchdowns in Tampa Bay's 23-21 win over Philadelphia in Week 7, but he had only one interception the rest of the year. He also only had three near interceptions. Barber is still a solid cornerback but to say he was one of the best in the NFC last year is simply not accurate.

Honorable mention:
Will Allen: Allen is touted as the best cornerback on the Dolphins' roster, but his 38.8 success percentage was the worst of any qualifying cornerback on his team last year (30 pass attempts needed to qualify).

Marcus Trufant: His 9.0 YPA and 36.4 success percentage in 2006 didn't even measure up to his Seattle teammate Kelly Herndon, and Herndon was released this offseason.

Rashean Mathis: A starter in Jacksonville, Mathis has a number of really good metrics, but his 7.5 YPA is average and his 44.2 success percentage is borderline mediocre. He also allowed 22.3 YPA on the 10 combined corner/go/double move go passes thrown at him, so he definitely has a tendency to get beaten deep.

Terence Newman: He is considered much better than his Dallas teammate Anthony Henry, but Newman's 2006 overall YPA was only .4 yards higher than Henry's. He also ranked 57th in the missed pass percentage category, so luck was on his side.

Although when you see players like Tony Romo getting voted in you have to ask yourself what the hell were the fans, the coaches and the players thinking.

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As far as the Romo vote goes, I have a theory.

If I recall correctly, most PB voting is over by week 14 or so. At that point last season, Romo was the best QB the NFC had to offer. He hadn't fully sucked yet, just had a couple inconsistent games at that point.

And really, can anyone find a better QB in the NFC who you'd vote in?
Brees- already in
McNabb- a lock, but injured
Eli- Not a chance
Garcia- Not enough starts by then
Bledsoe- Benched
Favre- 50/50 on picks/TDs can't cut it
Rexy- Please
Johnson/Jackson- See above
Kitna- Umm... nuh uh
Vick- subpar season
Delhomme- screwed his fantasy owners by being awful
Gradkowski- Yeah, you know.

Good analysis.
Good to see someone actually throw some thought into a statement rather than just boast its THIS or THAT without support.

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Congratulations. By being a complete ******** for no reason, I will not come to this site anymore. Are you proud of yourself?

For the rest of y'all, I'm too old for people who stalk threads looking to antagonize others. I appreciate your insight into the pro game, and I hope the Packers and Wood have a great 2007.

~S

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And yet not old enough to resort anything other than petty name calling. :shrug:

Anyhooters, enough with the hypocritical whiner, lets get back to the thread. Woohoo!!

I'd have to agree with the perception of pack_in_black's theory. I think quite often if a player doesn't JUMP OUT at voters (be it fans, coaches or players) they go with the name they know. Which unfortunately can be dictated by ESPN.

I know as a fan I didn't research every single player that I selected on my pro bowl sheet. It'd be impossible to, for me anyhow. I don't have time to watch every NFL game